politics and lit again

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Does reading or even having heard about Pynchon make a person "way-above-average?"  Absolutely not.  But it does imply a certain level of education (education being, at minimum, the ability and desire to become interested in things and learn about them).  We're all familiar with people who have college degrees, but are basically uneducated (Bush being the obvious example), as well as people who've had little or no formal education, but have become educated on their own.  I've run into plenty of college graduates who've never heard of Pynchon.  You can disagree, but I'm still convinced that one is more likely to have heard of or actually read Pynchon if one does have a formal education.  Some combination of opportunity and intelligence is required.  

Graduating from high school certainly doesn't imply any kind of education.  I have 3 kids in the NYC school system, and the standard curriculum is pretty dismal.  Kids who don't come from educated households aren't likely to become educated.  My daughter read The Crucible in 7th grade, and is reading it again in AP high school American History.  In both cases it was taught as part of the Colonial American History "unit."  20th Century American History is covered in 4 units: Early 20th Century, the Immigrant Experience, the Civil Rights Movement, and a smattering of the Vietnam War, if there's time.  Early 20th Century encompasses WWI, the Depression and World War II (do a project on one of the above: pretend that you lived during that time and write a diary, make a collage of pictures and advertisements from that period, create an ad campaign that pertains to that period).  When my son read The Crucible in 7th grade, one homework assignment was  "make a list of movie stars that you would cast if you were turning The Crucible into a movie."  OK, I'm ranting here, but I'm just making the obvious point that a bad system of education produces uneducated people who, barring outside influences, are unlikely to read Pynchon.

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Keith McMullen <keithsz at mac.com>
>Sent: Sep 29, 2006 11:24 PM
>To: Pynchon Index Cacorum <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: politics and lit again
>
>Ain't it great to be part of a list of literate, educated, way-above- 
>average Americans who evaluate matters according to standards much  
>higher than a thong?
>
>Here's to us lofty pynchonoids!
>
>On Sep 29, 2006, at 2:05 PM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>
>Not to mention, the American public is too illiterate and uneducated  
>to have heard of these guys.  TRP would have to appear in thong  
>underwear to get any notice whatsoever from the average American.
>
>Laura
>
>